Federal Funding Gives Boost to Fellowship Program Aimed at Minority Postdocs
Dorothy Jones-Davis
The UCSF Graduate Division has received nearly $300,000 in federal economic stimulus funds for a fellowship program that provides intensive research and teaching experience to postdoctoral scholars from underrepresented backgrounds.
The money — $298,193 — was awarded July 14 by the National Institute for General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) using funds from the $787 billion economic stimulus package signed into law in February.
The funds are an extension of the funding already provided to the Graduate Division through the NIGMS Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA) program, which aims to promote collaboration between research-intensive institutions and minority-serving institutions while also guiding postdoctoral scholars toward careers in academia.
UCSF postdoctoral fellow Dorothy Jones-Davis, PhD, will be able to extend her position for one year, thanks to new federal funding awarded to the Graduate Division.
Specifically, the new funds will support the IRACDA Scholars in Science (ISIS) Postdoctoral Fellowship, a joint program between UCSF and San Francisco State University (SFSU) that began in 2007.
Four current ISIS fellows will be offered the opportunity to extend their postdoctoral positions for a period ranging from one month to a full year, depending on their start date, according to Graduate Division Dean Patricia Calarco, PhD. In addition, the funds will support one new fellow, who has yet to be selected, she said.
The four-year ISIS fellowship combines mentored lab research at UCSF with a supervised teaching apprenticeship at SFSU, and also includes career development workshops and access to research and education seminars. All ISIS fellows receive financial support throughout the four years.
Under the guidance of some of UCSF’s highest-ranked principal investigators, current ISIS fellows are conducting innovative research across a broad range of fields, including pathology, neurology and psychiatry.
The UCSF-SFSU program is one of 12 IRACDA collaborations throughout the country.
Photo by Jeannine Cuevas
Related Links:
IRACDA Scholars in Science Fellowship at UCSF
San Francisco State University
UCSF to Receive Stimulus Money to Fund Scholarships
UCSF Today, Aug. 27, 2009